We Need His Eyes 11-17-10

Josiah Elias

11-17-10

We Need His Eyes

I wonder how we really see people in life. When we go through our day certainly we see a lot of people but what do we really see? Male, female, white, black, tall, short, fat, skinny, druggy, middle-class, upper-class, poor, rich, snobby, cares what people think, doesn't care what anyone thinks etc. Most of which is probably stereotypes anyways. We see a lot of people with our eyes, but we certainly don't often see them with our heart, or as I would like to say, “Through His Eyes”. Jesus saw people with a perspective that nobody else has ever seen people through. Simply because Jesus had such an intimate relationship with the Father, He would see people through the eyes of the Father. When everybody else saw loser, He saw winner. When they thought scum of the earth, He thought royalty. But why is it so difficult for us to do the same thing?

My goal in this blog is not to only get you thinking about how you see people, but to allow this perspective to provoke you to do something about how you interact with people. Apparently in many of our lives our own pride and fear overrides how we care for people. Its not supposed to be that way. But the fact of the matter is it does much of the time and that's a sorry fact. I see people who are lost and going to hell and my heart goes out to them, I want to reach out to them. I see toddlers with diseases or youth with health conditions and I know in my inner man that I should be able to do something about this! Not because I'm anything great, but because Christ me is GREAT!

Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

When I look at the life of Christ and what He has commanded us to do, I see no excuse for not making an effort to share this love with those around us. We all know that we need to do it but rarely do we act on that conviction. THAT IS A PROBLEM! I know that in my own life, this problem is going to cease and I'm going to make a great effort to see people through His eyes; allowing that to motivate me to reach out to them. We can all probably quote the Great Commission off the top of our heads, but only a few of us could say truthfully that we are living the Great Commission daily. Doesn't this convict you? It convicts me even writing this. Things have got to change Christians!

Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

I have a friend who goes out and preaches every single day! He is radical in how he delivers the gospel fearlessly to literally 10's of thousands of people in the streets all the time. He gave me this analogy. “You see Josiah, its like these people are drowning and I carry a life-vest. Or their in a burning building and I have the capability to rescue them...they are lost and dying and I have the answer to life. If there was somebody physically dying right before our eyes, we would do everything in our power to save that person, when spiritually we know that they are lost and dying and we carry LIFE everywhere that we go and yet we don't utilize the spiritual life-vests that God has given us.” Tragic. People have told this friend of mine that if he was in another country he would be dead by now for sure, yet we in America are so blessed to be protected by the 1st amendment rights that we so rarely utilize. Who knows how long it will be before those rights are stripped from us and sharing our faith in this country will become increasingly more difficult. When that happens we're really going to be regretting the fact that we didn't take advantage of the rights we had as U.S. Citizens to share our faith publicly while they were available.

Mar 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

In order for the Lord to work with them, and to confirm the word through the accompanying signs, they had to go out and preach everywhere! It was when they were faithful to go out and preach the gospel that the Lord obviously supported what they were doing with signs, wonders, and miracles! Therefore, people were getting saved left and right and being delivered from all kinds of oppression! We simply cannot let our pride or fear override our love for the lost and the desire within us to reach lost souls for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sure they thought John the Baptist was a freak but look what he did for the Kingdom of Heaven. He preached a radical message that nobody had preached before him. He prepared the way for Jesus! What an honor!

Mat 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

Mat 3:2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

Mat 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.' "

BEFORE I SHARE ANY MORE...ANSWER THIS QUESTION TO YOURSELF. ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE JESUS? YES OR NO? Now read on...

Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Mat 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Mat 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Luk 8:1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him.

Luk 9:6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

That's just a few. That's what Jesus did. Who can argue it? What about the apostles???

Act 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Act 8:4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

Act 8:25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Act 10:36  The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—

Act 11:20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Act 14:7 And they were preaching the gospel there.

Act 14:8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

Act 14:9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

Act 14:10 said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked.

Act 15:35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Are we getting the picture yet?

Act 28:30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

  Act 28:31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Tit 1:3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

We can sit here and dish our scriptures on the importance of doing this, but for some reason today's church has this blockage that just seems to subconsciously discard this command and think that we're okay without it. Or perhaps that someone else will do it, but its not for me. WRONG! This is why its so important to see people through His eyes. When we can learn to see people from His perspective and care for them and love them, we are fulfilling His commandment to love one another and sharing of our faith will follow.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Joh 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

See them the way Christ see's them and we will be moved with compassion to want to throw them the life-vest that each of us Christians carry. We will be provoked to reach out to those around us. But something has to rise up within us that says “THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW IS NOT RIGHT AND SOMETHING HAS GOT TO CHANGE; STARTING WITH ME!” You can change the way you think right now and simply ask the Lord to give you His eyes! Its a prayer I'm convinced He's been waiting for us to pray. Be careful however, if you pray the prayer than you will be saying to God that you are willing to see people the way He see's them and not just to see them, but to be challenged to do something about it. When you leave your house and you begin going out to run errands or go to school or work, you will begin seeing people differently. This will challenge you to do something with your new perspective on people. Don't just pray the prayer because you know its the right thing to do, pray the prayer when you truly want to live your life a little bit more like Jesus. When we can see people the way that He see's them, we will be moved with compassion to reach out everywhere we go and within our families. Let it start with you. Time is running out.

God, Give Us Your Eyes.

Josiah Elias

~Revival SD~